Altruistic Anomalies
by Basil-Ovelby
Summary: Fox wakes up as a prisoner of Andross, a bump on his head the only reason he can't remember why. His only other companion is Wolf as the two struggle to survive, trapped in a cell beneath the earth.


An idea that's been dancing around in my head lately and wouldn't let me go until I wrote it. Which is a bit unusual, because I'm actually really bad at getting stuff written, and even worse about finishing things, but I guess since this is a one-shot, I've already got the finishing part down, ahaha.

This also denotes my first time venturing into the Star Fox fandom, so don't hate me.

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Altruistic Anomalies

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_Day One_

Fox woke up with a rancid, musty smell filling his nostrils. He wriggled his nose and ended up almost sneezing. Groggily, he opened his eyes, letting them slowly become adjusted to the dim light in the room.

The first thing he noticed was the tinny buzz coming from the light on the ceiling. It wasn't very bright, but hell, it was putting out an annoying sound. Once he'd taken the light into his attention, however, he noticed that he didn't _know_ this light, and upon further observation, he didn't _know_ the ceiling it was attached to either – what appeared to be solid concrete and a few sturdy-looking metal rafters.

With a slight groan, he pushed himself up to a sitting position. He grimaced from pain at the crick in his neck as he moved his head. Obviously, he'd been sleeping for some time.

Now that he was up, he let his eyes scope out the rest of the room in an attempt to determine his location. There wasn't much to look at: more concrete walls, a few metal poles stretching from the floor to the ceiling, what looked like unused lockers off to one corner… he couldn't see back much farther than that, however, as the only light appeared to be the one not too far from his head.

"You're up."

Fox almost jumped. In his quick survey of the room, he hadn't taken into account what was behind him, which was exactly where this voice had come from. He turned his upper-body around, stretching his back out a bit painfully.

"Wolf…?"

The gruff lupine sat on a stool against the wall, not too far from behind Fox's make-shift bed (of which he had just noticed). He had his arms crossed in front of him and his legs tucked under the seat of the stool. Fox couldn't help but notice that he looked a bit worse for the wear – his fur was unkempt and his one eye looked in the process of developing a dark circle beneath it.

"I was beginning to think you never would."

Fox couldn't think of anything to say for a while, still trying to comprehend everything that was happening. Wolf reached up his hand to scratch idly under the eye piece of his headset, not in a hurry to say anything either.

"Where… are we?"

Fox was scanning around the room again, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Wolf raised an eyebrow. "You mean… you don't remember?"

Wolf's accusation caused Fox's gaze to shift towards him again. "Remember? Remember what?"

Looking quickly towards the floor, Wolf shifted in his seat. It was quiet for a moment, the only noise being the incessant buzzing of the lamp overhead.

With a start, Wolf lifted himself from the stool. "I should check on your bandages." He seated himself next to Fox, taking the other's arm in his hand. Fox forgot about his question for a second, looking down to see that he did, in fact, have some sort of make-shift bandage wrapped around his arm. Immediately wondering what else was wrong with him, he scanned the rest of his body, finding a similar wrap around his right lower calf.

Wolf busied himself unwrapping the bandage from Fox's arm, carefully separating the cloth from his skin. Fox looked down to see a long gash stretching across the upper part of his arm, though it looked to be fairly crusted over from healing. Wolf was flinging the bandage to get the dust off before carefully folding it over itself in the opposite direction it was before.

"Wolf."

Wolf carefully began wrapping the bandage back around Fox's arm, biting the inside of his cheek.

"Wolf."

Tying a quick knot, he finished up the wrapping job, though being careful not to make it too tight. "There, that should do for now… I don't have a whole lot of these left, so we gotta make do with what we got."

"Wolf, what are we doing here?"

Wolf cringed, looking away from Fox.

"Wol-"

"Andross. It was Andross."

Fox sat back a bit in surprise. "Andross…? Andross what? Did he attack? Where's everyone else? Falco? Slip-"

"No! No, er…" Wolf fiddled with a torn piece of cloth on his shirt. "No… we've…"

Fox narrowed his eyes, looking intently at Wolf.

Wolf, in turn, brought his eyes up to Fox's, but couldn't keep them there long. "…we've been captured."

"What?!" Fox's voice gave a quick rise in intonation. "How did that happen? When did…?" He could barely get the right words to come out. He quickly stood up from the make-shift bed, but a sharp pain in his right leg brought him instantly to his knees.

"Whoa, whoa there, trigger." Wolf pushed himself off the bed to crouch near Fox. "You ain't exactly in the best of shape, alright? You can't move that fast." He shifted his arm over Fox's shoulder and tried to guide him back to the bed. Fox quickly turned to face him, however, halting his movement.

"I thought Andross was dead."

"Yeah, we all did."

"So, what happened? How did we get captured? Why don't I fucking _remember any of this?"_

Wolf removed his arm from Fox's shoulder, giving up trying to move him back to the bed. "I don't know – I didn't expect it any more than you did! Why don't you tell me?"

Fox looked as if about to say something more, but stopped himself, furrowing his eyebrows.

"I mean, you coulda just hit your head hard or something… things got kinda crazy."

Fox ran a hand over the top of his head, shifting across his fur. He winced as his fingers graced a protruding bump behind his left ear. There it was.

"Ok, so maybe I did hit my head on something." He paused. "But… but that still doesn't make any sense. You'd think something like, I don't know, _Andross_ attacking would be etched pretty clearly in my memory."

Wolf shrugged his shoulders." Hey, weirder shit's happened."

Fox looked at the lupine, scratching the top of his nose. This was as confusing as hell. He still had no idea what was going on or even where they were, what had led them to being captured, or even why… why… "Wait a minute, why were _you_ captured? You're the one who used to work for him!"

Wolf's eyes widened a bit in surprise before he quickly recovered, becoming a bit frustrated himself. "Well, I guess I didn't fit the bill this time. I was only in it for the money before, anyway… s'not like I pledged my allegiance to him or anything. God, Fox…"

Fox's anger subsided a bit, his face losing its hardened edge. "Sorry…"

Wolf didn't reply back, sitting down on his stool with a sigh. As if by habit, he returned to the position he'd been in when Fox woke up.

Fox idly messed with the zipper on his jacket, noting the awkward silence that had settled over them. Finally, he looked back up, walking a few steps towards the middle of the room. He scanned his surroundings again, now that he had a better view. The concrete was discolored in places, especially towards the ceiling, and the metal rafters were covered with rust. He could hear the sound of dripping water a short ways off, probably hidden in the dim light further back in the room.

"So… we're captured. Where exactly are we?"

Wolf didn't answer at first, simply looking up at Fox. "…Venom, I assume."

Fox crossed his arms over his chest, still looking around. "Doesn't look much like a cell of any sort… Andross run out of places to lock people up?" He followed his last statement with a sarcastic laugh. "I don't even see a door. How the hell did they put us in here?"

Wolf leaned forward on his stool, resting his chin in his hand. "It's over there… you can't see it very well in the dark." He was pointing off towards the sound of the dripping water. "I've already tried shoving it open… multiple times."

Fox gazed off into the shadowed area, letting his eyes refocus themselves. Slowly, he could pick out a set of stairs leading up to a trapdoor in the ceiling.

Another silence coated the room, and Fox let himself wander over towards one of the poles spanning the height of the room, running his hand over it. Pieces of rust-colored grit came off on his fingers. "How did it happen, Wolf?" He turned his head to look at the lupine.

Wolf appeared at a loss for words, refusing to look into Fox's eyes. "Well, it's… it's all kind of a blur to me. I can't remember it all that well…"

Fox waited, obviously wanting more.

"We were on… Zoness. Yeah, Zoness. Some kind of riot broke out and we got mixed up in it… turned out it was all Andross' plan. We got backed up into an alley or something… that's where things start to get fuzzy."

Fox raised an eyebrow. "What were we doing on Zoness?"

Wolf finally looked at Fox. "I don't know what _you_ were doing there, but _I _was there simply taking a break. Leon and Panther came… they were there too." There was a slight crack in his voice, but he continued. "I assume they're fine, though. I got separated from them. 'Sides, what would Andross want with them?"

Fox ran a hand through the fur on his head. "What about my team?"

At this, Wolf got slightly nervous. "I don't even remember seeing them."

"I was there on Zoness all by myself?"

"Hey, don't ask me! I don't know what was going on with you before we ran into each other."

Fox slowly chewed on his lower lip. There was obviously something that Wolf wasn't saying, but he didn't seem to be having any luck getting it out of him. It's not like he was going anywhere though, he could try again later.

Walking back to the make-shift bed, he plopped himself back down on the rust-tinted cloth, causing dust to fly up around him. He rested his head back against the wall.

"Do we know what Andross wants with us?"

Wolf was holding his head up with both hands now. "…I haven't even seen him since we got captured. No one's been down to check on us or anything."

"Maybe they're going to just leave us down here to die. Starve to death." A thought crossed Fox's mind. "_Do _we have any food?"

Wolf made a gesture towards the lockers. "I found a few MRE's in the bottom of those lockers… been rationing them. You've been out for about two days, you know… I've had plenty of time to look around this place."

"Ah."

Silence again.

"We have any water?"

"Follow the dripping noise."

Fox wrinkled his nose a bit. He couldn't complain though, at least they had some. He sighed, feeling his stomach give a low growl as if responding.

"I'm… I'm kinda hungry now… actually…"

Wolf's eyes widened, sitting up straight. "Oh, yeah. No problem." He pulled himself off the stool, making his way over to the lockers. He pulled one of the handles, giving it a few abrupt tugs before it swung open.

Fox ran his fingers over the cloth beneath him. He pulled up one of the sides to see what was underneath and found two stacks of three large bags, side by side. Pushing his finger into one of them, he felt what seemed to be sand.

Wolf came back, holding an open plastic bag in front of him. "You want the cheese omelet or the macaroni?"

Fox made a face. "Give me the omelet."

Wolf handed him the plastic pouch, taking the other one out for himself. "There's only one spoon per MRE…"

"You go ahead and use it… I'll be fine with my fingers."

Wolf continued to stand there for a second. Finally, he walked back over to the stool, taking a seat.

Fox ripped open the top of his food pouch, looking inside. He grimaced a bit – he'd never liked these things… At least it was food, though. He began scooping up pieces of yellowed egg, bringing them to his mouth.

They ate in silence, the only sounds being the buzzing light and the dripping water. Fox continued to think about their situation, a number of different questions running through his mind. The main one being what exactly was going to happen to them. There was a sense of hopelessness in the question itself, though, keeping him from voicing it out loud.

He was just finishing the last of the omelet as a chill ran down his spine. He hadn't really taken notice of the temperature before, but he supposed he'd been too focused on other things, such as his confusion or need for food.

"It's kinda chilly in here…"

"Yeah. It wasn't too bad at first, but I've noticed it steadily getting colder over the last two days."

Fox wasn't sure what that meant. Was Andross going to slowly freeze them to death? It would certainly be a painful way to go, so he wouldn't put it past him… but yet, after all that had happened, he'd assumed the scientist would want to kill him personally. Maybe the falling temperature was simply a side-effect of being underground. He'd come to the assumption they were below the surface due to the exit in the ceiling.

"I'm sure they'll come to save us… Falco, Slippy, Peppy, Krystal…"

Wolf looked over at him, a bit curious as to the seemingly uninstigated comment. "Where'd that come from?"

Fox kept staring straight ahead. "They're probably figuring out a way to rescue us right now."

Wolf looked down at his feet, chewing slowly.

Fox was beginning to get tired again. He leaned over, placing the now empty pouch down on the floor near the bed. With a small yawn, he let himself simply fall over from that position, landing with a small poof of dust back onto the cloth. "You mark my words, Wolf. They'll be here soon." His eyes were closed by now. "Any time…"

Wolf watched as Fox's breathing slowed, quickly falling asleep. He continued to chew on his macaroni, not saying a word.

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_Day Two_

Fox didn't know how long he'd been asleep when he awoke next. He didn't even know what time of day it was, given that there were no windows. He yawned, pushing himself up from the bed. His back was really starting to hurt now. As much as the bed made a difference from sleeping on the floor, it still was entirely more uncomfortable than almost anything he'd ever slept on.

With a sigh, he swung his legs over the side, bringing his hands up to rub the sleep out of his eyes. As he gazed around the room, he noted a bit remorsefully that everything looked exactly the same. Not that he thought it would be different…

His shoulders slumped a bit, and he looked off to the side, noticing Wolf asleep on the stool. The older canine's head was turned down, his face barely visible, though every few seconds it would lift slightly, a small growl coming from his throat. His arms were crossed over his chest as if trying to warm himself.

Fox scratched one of his ears, pushing himself to his feet. He grabbed the blanket from the bags of sand that had been his bed and walked over to Wolf, draping the blanket over his shoulders.

After a moment, he stepped back, turning to face the room once more. He gave a small wince from the pain in his right leg, but did his best to ignore it as he walked towards the lockers. Inside the far left one, he saw the plastic pouches that constituted their meals. He couldn't help but notice there weren't many left.

Scanning the rest of the lockers, he found nothing but more dust, so he continued past them into the darker areas of the room. He turned a corner when the room veered off to the right and was almost enveloped in shadow. The wall cut off most of the light from the small lamp in their corner.

He could hear the dripping water more clearly now, and taking care not to run into any poles, he slowly ventured out towards it. He was just beginning to wonder how far back the room actually extended when he felt his hands come in contact with a wall.

He turned back around, his eyes becoming more and more adjusted to the lack of light. Soon, he could make out the vague outlines of the poles scattered throughout the room as well as the staircase he'd seen earlier. To the right of the staircase, a sudden movement caught his eye. He watched a drop of water fall from the ceiling into a decent-sized pool in the corner.

Their water source.

He made his way over to it, crouching down. He had to admit - he _was_ quite thirsty, but he wasn't sure if he was that desperate yet.

Standing back up, he looked over at the staircase, examining the trap door keeping them prisoner. It looked quite sturdy, obviously made of some kind of metal. There didn't appear to be a handle anywhere, and he couldn't even see any light through the cracks on the sides.

His face fell a bit. Though he'd known there was no way out, seeing the door in front of him made it all the more real. He wondered what the rest of his crew was doing. Were they out there planning a rescue mission? Did they even know he'd been captured? It brought him back to the question of what he'd been doing on Zoness in the first place. It wasn't exactly a frequent hang-out spot for him. Had they been on a mission there? Had the rest of his crew been with him?

His one consolation was that none of them were here. He hoped this meant they were alright. Obviously, if Wolf had been put in here with him, had any of the others been captured, they'd have been here as well. It only made sense, especially given the apparent condition of their holding cell.

Something still didn't add up, though.

He shook his head, trying to clear it of the constant stream of questions. He imagined the Great Fox soaring out through space. He could practically see all of them inside of it: Peppy sitting in that big chair of his, Slippy tinkering away at something on ROB, Falco giving him that knowing look from his position against the wall, and Krystal typing away at something at the computer terminal. For just a second, it was like he was there right now, smiling at all of them. He could almost hear them talking…

"Fox?"

Fox snapped out of his daydream, turning to face the source of the voice. Wolf stood a few steps back, the blanket still draped on his shoulders. He brought one of his feet up to scratch the side of his leg.

"Oh, hey…"

"I panicked a bit at first when I woke up and you weren't there." Wolf gave a rather sheepish look.

"Well… it's not like I can go anywhere." Fox said it with a laugh, but quickly realized how sad that statement really was.

"Yeah…"

Both canines looked towards the ground, realization of their situation once more taking its toll on them.

Wolf was the first to speak again. "You find the water?"

"Yeah… don't know if I'm thirsty enough to actually drink it, though." Fox looked behind him towards the puddle.

"It's kinda the only thing we got."

"Yeah, I know… it's just…" Fox rubbed his arm where the bandage still covered it. "Nevermind. I'll probably have some later."

Wolf stared at him for a second before his eyes traveled down to his leg. "You want me to get you a new bandage for that leg?"

Fox lifted his leg a bit to look down at it as well, noticing that the bandage was now a dark red across the middle. "Eh? I hadn't even noticed."

"It's probably 'cuz you've been walking on it… here, come over into the light." Wolf ushered him back across the room until they were standing beneath the light once more. Once there, he gently pressed down on Fox's shoulders, getting him to sit on the floor. Sitting down himself, he reached into one of his pockets and pulled out another strip of cloth. It looked ripped, just like the other ones.

"Here." He crossed his legs, patting one of his knees. Fox raised his leg up to rest on it, wincing a bit.

Wolf immediately began untying the stained bandage, being careful as he finally pulled it away. Fox looked down to see how bad it was, taking it in with a grimace. The slash was longer than the one on his arm, and looked a bit deeper too. The area around it had turned a dark purplish-brown.

"I wish we had something to clean it with… but I've been doing my best to at least keep it from getting dirty." Wolf explained a bit regretfully, tossing the used bandage off to the side before beginning to wrap the new one. Fox tensed a bit at the pain, feeling a few tears come to his eyes, but not allowing them to escape.

Once Wolf had finished, he tied a knot to keep it in place, careful not to tie it too tight. He looked over to Fox as it to signal that he was finished.

Fox didn't move at first. "Wolf, why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"It seems kinda pointless considering where we are."

Wolf looked away as Fox brought his leg back, stretching his toes forward. He decided not to do that again, however, as it sent another jolt of pain through his leg.

"I just want you to be comfortable, is all."

Fox raised an eyebrow. It seemed a bit out of character for Wolf.

"Look, if you don't want it, I'll take it back, ok?"

"Hey, hey, settle down. I didn't mean it like that." Fox idly brought his hand up to rub the bump on the back of his head. "It's just… I don't know. Forget I even said anything."

Wolf's face softened, but he remained quiet, not really sure what to say.

"'Sides, if I know my team, they'll be here to rescue us any day now. They're probably launching some kind of squad to bring us back as we speak." Fox smiled. "And I bet Leon and Panther are thinking of a way to get you back as well. That's double our chances of getting rescued!"

Wolf gave a short laugh, staring down at his feet. "Yeah. Double."

"Hey, don't be like that. If there's one thing we've gotta have down here, it's hope. Without that, we've got nothing."

Wolf looked up, giving Fox what looked like a sad smile. "…I guess you're right."

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_Day Three_

The next time Fox awoke, he noticed a fairly distinct drop in temperature. He rubbed his arms through his jacket, a slight chill running up his spine. He'd fallen asleep leaning against the sand bags rather than on top of them, causing his rear to ache painfully as he attempted to stand up. His tail flicked aimlessly behind him.

He looked to his side and noticed the stool was empty. Still holding his arms across his chest for warmth, he started walking towards the other side of the room, but stopped as he heard footsteps approach him. Wolf soon came into sight, adjusting his belt.

"Had to take a dump."

Fox raised his eyebrows in amusement but didn't say anything. They both just stood there for a moment, Wolf finally getting his clothing readjusted. The buzzing from the lamp seemed slightly louder than it had before.

Wolf glanced at Fox's hunched-over stance. "Yeah, the temperature's definitely gone down a few pegs."

"Maybe Andross forgot to pay the heating bill."

They both smiled at the joke, but didn't have the heart for anything more.

"Breakfast?"

Fox gave a small nod, his stomach growling in response. Wolf made his way over to the open locker, kneeling down to examine the remaining pouches. After he didn't say anything for a minute or two, Fox starting walking towards him.

"…maybe we should share this time. Goulash alright with you?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Obviously, they were beginning to run quite low, but Fox didn't say anything.

Wolf walked over to him with the pouch in his hand and both moved over to the sandbags to sit down. After ripping open the top, he handed it to Fox.

"No, no… you can eat first." Fox gently pushed it back.

"It's fine. I'm not all that hungry."

Fox looked at him for a moment, chewing his lip. "…alright." He accepted the pouch this time, using his fingers to begin bringing the food to his mouth. Wolf leaned back, resting against the wall.

After eating a few bites, Fox slowed his chewing, letting himself stare off into the space in front of him. He wasn't even thinking about anything, just letting himself zone out. It wasn't until he'd been chewing the same bit of goulash about forty times that he snapped himself out of it.

He blinked his eyes a few times, letting reality back in, dismal as it may have been. He glanced over at Wolf and was a bit surprised to find the lupine staring back at him. Their eyes met for a few moments before Fox quirked his eyebrows, grinning. "I have something on my face or something?"

Wolf broke out of the trance he seemed to be in. "Huh, what? Oh, no… it's nothing." He looked away, a bit sheepish.

Fox swallowed what he had in his mouth and offered the pouch of food to Wolf. "Here."

But Wolf simply pushed it away again. "Nah, go ahead and finish it. I don't really feel like eating." He stood up before Fox could insist again, taking a few steps. "I'm gonna go get a drink."

Fox watched Wolf walk away in silence. He furrowed his eyebrows a bit, looking down at the food in his hand. He couldn't help but feel a bit guilty, but obviously Wolf wasn't going to eat it no matter how many times he asked. He reached in to pull out another handful of noodles.

It was a few minutes before Wolf meandered his way back into the light. Fox couldn't help but notice how sickly he was beginning to look: his fur seemed more gray than usual, covered in dirt and dust, and he seemed so frail that a slight gust of wind could probably blow him over. It occurred to him suddenly that this was the first time he'd ever seen Wolf out of his Wolfen. He hadn't even thought of it before… and he wasn't quite sure why the thought came to him now… then again, his thoughts were all over the place at the moment. He couldn't even keep track of them.

Wolf took a seat against the wall a short ways from Fox, bringing his arms over his chest and his knees in towards his body. Fox watched him silently, finishing up the last of the goulash.

When the last noodle was gone from the pouch, he placed it gently on the floor and leaned back against the wall in a similar fashion to Wolf. He closed his eyes, bringing back the memory of the Great Fox that he'd imagined earlier. He felt an instant feeling of comfort, almost bringing a smile to his face. Yes, they were going to come for him, he could feel it. In his mind, he imagined the trap door of their cage bursting open with a loud clang, could hear the voices of his comrades filtering through. They were calling his name…

His dream self stood up quickly, running over to them, laughing. They'd made it! They were here to rescue him from this hell. Falco was shouting something joyfully, giving him a hug. Slippy was almost crying from happiness as he ran down the stairs. Peppy and Krystal were there in a flash as well, all circling him, all welcoming him. He was home. For some reason, even General Pepper was there, and he was shaking Fox's hand, patting him on the back. Andross was defeated. Everything was right again.

He awoke with a start, not even realizing that he'd been asleep. He felt that strange sensation when dreams dissolved into reality, making him a bit disoriented for a few moments. He looked towards the darkness where he knew the door was as if hoping it was still all true. Unfortunately, there was no clang of it opening, no sounds of his friends.

All there was was the buzzing of an electric lamp and the endless dripping of the water in the corner.

He sighed, shifting his position to restore feeling to his rear. He glanced over at Wolf, still in the same position as before. Was he asleep?

Fox sat silently for a few moments before leaning over the side of the sand bags to find the blanket haphazardly on the floor, picking it up with a swipe of his hand. Standing up and stretching out his legs, he made his way over to the seated form. When Wolf made no sign of movement save his shivering, Fox assumed he was asleep.

Draping the blanket over his own shoulders, he sat down next to the lupine, shifting the cloth to cover both of them. Wolf moved with a start, turning to face him.

Fox didn't say anything. He noticed with a bit of concern that Wolf appeared to have been crying, though he couldn't be sure. Not really sure what to do, he just sat there, looking at him.

Wolf brought his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them, though not before bringing one hand up to wipe at his eye. A bit nervous at first, Fox brought his own arm up to rest gently on Wolf's back.

"…hey."

There wasn't an answer.

"Everything's gonna be alright, ok?"

He could feel Wolf shivering beneath his hand.

"You'll see… it won't be long before we're outta this mess." He smiled to emphasize his point, but realized the futility of this as Wolf wasn't looking at him.

He let his arm slide around Wolf's shoulders, drawing him closer in more of a sideways embrace. He simply sat like that for a few minutes. The warmth their closeness provided felt wonderfully nice.

"Soon, we'll be relaxing back on Corneria… enjoying delicious home-cooked meals. Everyone will be so happy to see us."

He was talking to himself more than anyone now.

"Just imagine… we'll probably laugh when we think back to this later. It'll be quite the story to tell."

He was smiling, hearing the laughter in his own head.

"All my friends will be there… yours too, of course. I bet they're already planning a welcoming party for us."

He felt his own eyes begin to tear up, making his vision blurry.

"It'll all be over soon…"

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_Day Four_

When Fox awoke, he could barely feel his legs… or much of anything else for that matter. He slowly opened his eyes, taking in his surroundings as he'd done every other time he'd woken up the last few days. It was so cold, he could see his breath.

He turned his head to the side, finding Wolf asleep on his shoulder. The older canine's body was curled towards him, snuggled in as if trying to collect every bit of heat he could from Fox's body. Fox might have laughed at the sight had he been in any other situation.

An unceremonious growl came from his stomach. Fox turned his head down, as if looking at it would make some sort of difference. He gave a deep sigh, watching his breath roll out of his mouth in a wave.

He didn't really want to move, but he was worried about the lack of feeling he was experiencing throughout his body. He brought the arm not being clung to by Wolf up in front of his face, wriggling it around. He curled his fingers in one-by-one, duly noting how stiff they were.

They weren't going to survive much longer in this… _that_ he was sure of.

He also couldn't help think of their water supply – small as it was, it wouldn't take long for it to completely freeze over if the temperature kept dropping. Although, he told himself with grim dread, once the temperature was that low, water would probably be the last thing on their minds.

He chewed at the inside of his cheek. He had to stop thinking like that. Hope, he had to have hope. They only had to make it a little longer before he knew the rest of Star Fox would be here. He had to use that hope to pull himself through.

With a groan, he slowly began pushing himself up from his seated position. He gently guided Wolf's form onto the ground as he rose, trying his best not to wake him. Before he stood up the rest of the way, he shifted the blanket so it was more fully covering the lupine.

Stretching his arms over his head, he slowly walked towards the middle of the room, looking up at the light. His body ached all over, but he did his best to ignore it as he attempted to warm himself up with movement.

He let himself wander a bit aimlessly as his thoughts ran everywhere from survival tactics he'd been taught at the Academy all too many years ago to dishes back home that would sure hit the spot right about now. In his stroll, he made his way over to the lockers. He glanced inside, not sure what to expect. There was only one pouch of food left, he noted, his heart seeming to sink in his chest. He didn't even bother to check what it was.

From there, he let himself walk further into the darkness of the room. He could still hear the dripping – a good sign, at least. Upon reaching what was now a rather familiar corner, he knelt down, sticking one of his fingers into the pool of water. He gave a sigh of relief when his finger sunk to the ground. Thank God for small miracles.

He ran his hands over his upper arms as he stood up. Now that he'd checked on their supplies, he wasn't quite sure what to do. Since waking up here, he'd noticed himself gradually getting more and more tired all the time, so he'd probably be able to fall back asleep fairly easily, but he couldn't help feel like he should try to get _something _accomplished as long as he was up.

Not that he had any idea as to what he should do.

He made his way back into the light, walking over to the pile of sand bags. As he sat down with a tired plop, he decided to check on the bandage wrapped around his leg. He brought his ankle up to balance on his other knee, examining the cloth. It didn't look too bad… not much had leaked through since Wolf had last changed it for him. He was actually a bit nervous to take it off, not sure if he was going to like what he saw.

After much deliberation, he decided he probably shouldn't mess with it, lowering his foot back to the ground.

Minutes ticked by as he sat there, his eyes simply staring in front of him. He was now completely lost in his thoughts. The walls loomed ominously around him, their never-changing exterior mocking him, suffocating him.

Minutes quickly turned into hours, and still he simply sat there. The dripping of the water had turned into a symphony of colors inside his head, the repetition bringing him a sense of calm, while at the same time slowly driving him crazy. The darkness looming before him became increasingly saturated, strange, shadowy figures dancing just beyond his sight.

The buzzing of the lamp was slowly growing louder. It echoed in his head, overtaking all his thoughts. Thousands of tiny insects buzzed inside his ears.

And with quite a suddenness, the buzzing was gone. As was the light.

Fox sat there for a moment in complete darkness, his mind having to speed up to reality in order to comprehend what had just happened.

And then he was on his feet, eyes wide open in fear and desperation. The light was gone. He swung his arms wildly over his head in an attempt to find the lamp. The light was gone. The darkness was overpowering. He could feel it crushing him. The light was gone.

He stumbled a few times, but finally located the lamp with his hands. He grabbed onto it like a lifeline.

It took a moment for the pain to register. Burning, his hands were burning. His brain screamed at him to let go, but he couldn't. He couldn't lose the lamp. He couldn't lose their light. He shook the metal structure desperately, tears welling up in his eyes. Fear was beginning to overtake him as the darkness continued to close in.

And then there was light.

Fox's felt himself go blind for a second and he squeezed his eyes shut, turning away. He let go of the lamp, letting himself fall to the floor. He looked around, seeing the light shining off the walls, illuminating the darkness.

The tears came out freely now. The light was back. He was safe.

He brought his hands up in front of his face. Patches of fur had been burned off, leaving dark red scars in their place. He gave a small whimper at the sight. There was nothing he could do to stop the pain.

He gingerly stuck out his tongue, running it across the length of his hand. It felt wonderful and horrible at the same time. He continued licking away at his hands, the pain ever so slowly beginning to subside.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been at it before his tongue really began to hurt. It was completely dry now, feeling like a gigantic cotton ball inside his mouth. He could barely even swallow, practically gagging every time he attempted to.

He got to his feet a bit shakily, the blood rushing to his head. An almost overwhelming dizziness wracked his body and he had to shut his eyes. He reached out his arm in an attempt to steady himself, but couldn't find anything to help and had to sink down to his knees. He felt a wave of nausea rush through him.

He stayed like that a few minutes, waiting for the dizziness to expel. He concentrated on his breathing… in and out. In and out. The lack of nutrients was really starting to get to him.

When he felt finally able to move again, he stood up ever so slowly, continuing to focus on his breathing. In and out. He could do this.

Finally, he was standing up. He calmly relaxed his shoulders, opening his eyes. Though still a little disoriented, he didn't feel the overwhelming dizziness return. Once he was satisfied that he was going to be ok, he made his way slowly back into the darkness of the room towards their watering hole.

The water felt absolutely heavenly as he lapped it up, his tongue and throat becoming moist again, allowing him to swallow once more. He was careful, however, to not take anymore than he needed. As much as his body gladly wanted to drink up the entire pool, he knew the obvious consequences. The small drip only replenished their water so fast.

Using the wall to help him back to his feet, he happily remained dizziness-free as he walked back into the light. Oh, how happy that light made him. He stood under it for a moment, idly rubbing his face. The fur felt quite soft against his raw hands.

With a glance, he looked down at Wolf, still sleeping on the hard floor. He'd been asleep for a while… Fox's eyes narrowed.

He walked over to Wolf's form quicker than he'd intended to, dropping to a crouch beside him. Gently pushing him onto his back, he brought his head down, listening to the lupine's breathing. Though definitely slower than normal, it seemed regular enough. He let his hand travel up his face, resting the back of it against his forehead.

It felt like fire.

Fox bit his lip in concern. They both should have expected something like this would happen given the circumstances, but it still alarmed him.

"Wolf." He gave the other's shoulders a slight shake. "Wolf, wake up."

Wolf grimaced in his sleep, a disgruntled whimper coming from his throat.

"Wolf!" Fox shook him with a bit more force, his fear echoing in his voice. "Wolf, please!"

Wolf's eyes opened slowly, gazing up at the concerned fox above him. His nose wriggled slightly. "Is it morning already?"

Fox couldn't help but smile, even as concern over the other's condition overtook most of his thoughts.

"Who can tell in this place…?"

Wolf grinned back, one of his canines peeking out beneath his upper lip. It was cut short, though, as a throaty cough wracked his body. Fox felt himself tense up as he watched. He didn't like the way it sounded.

When Wolf settled back down, he brought his hand up to scratch the top of his nose. "I don't feel all that great…"

"I think you've got a fever."

"…well that's great news."

Fox couldn't help but grimace at the sarcastic tone. Everything that was happening… it kept getting worse and worse. It seemed as if nothing was working in their favor anymore. The hope that he continued to cling to was getting smaller as the hours grew longer.

"It's really fucking cold in here."

Wolf had his arms wrapped tightly around himself now, visibly shivering.

"Yeah… I know…"

Fox began idly running his hand across the fur on Wolf's head, leaning his head on his own knee. He felt Wolf begin to relax underneath him, a small sigh, barely audible.

"Hey, Fox… tell me… tell me what it's like for you… back on the Great Fox."

Fox smiled a bit to himself, already the imagery appearing in his head. "Well… it's pretty spacious. We've just recently spiffed it up a bit, too. Falco and I spent some time fixing up spots where the paint was getting old or chipped, and Slippy finally got that whole system check-up done that he'd been wanting to for a while." His hand continued running softly through Wolf's fur. "We each have our own rooms, which is quite nice. I've always liked having my own space to go to… just to be by myself for a while. We also have a rec room – Falco and I spend a lot of time there."

His voice wandered off a bit, almost as if reliving a memory. "…just the other day, we were having some sort of contest to see who could make the most shots into the trashcan. We were using wadded up paper from some long, boring etiquette manual Peppy had given us to read. It was really pretty funny, actually…"

"And Slippy… oh, Slippy. He's a good kid, really. He's always messing around with something. Sometimes I wonder if he'd rather be around people or his various creations. You know, he spends more time with ROB than any of us."

He was silent for a few moments, simply staring ahead of him. "…sometimes I liked to just go out to the observation deck by myself. You know, being out in space all the time, it kinda loses that initial splendor… that magic it seemed to have… but, if you just took the time to go really look at it, you can feel it all again. That feeling of being immersed in space. I spent hours just lying there…"

He trailed off, resting his head back down on his knee. "Did you ever just look at the stars, Wolf?"

He waited for a few moments, but didn't receive an answer. "Wolf?"

Fox turned his head to look at the figure next to him. Wolf was breathing softly, his eyes closed. Fox felt himself smile. "Way to fall asleep on me…"

He let himself gently lay down on the floor, draping one arm across Wolf's chest, pulling him in closer. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep as well.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Day Five_

Upon waking up, Fox felt a strange tug on his mind. A dream… he'd been dreaming. He could almost touch it, a faint memory in the recesses of his mind. He could almost see it.

There'd been a blinding light. Someone was tugging on him, forcing him to go faster. He was afraid. Oh God, he was deathly afraid. The ground shook around him, the rumble of thunder getting louder and louder, deafening him. Only it wasn't thunder. He wanted to scream.

It was gone once he opened his eyes. He tried to hang on to it with everything he could, but he was already forgetting it. Only the feeling of it remained. The fear.

Fox was fully awake now, the bitterness of cold biting at his nose. He didn't want to move, didn't want to get up. He wanted to stay here, huddled in this position, holding on to the warmth from the body next to him.

Maybe he could just stay here forever…

A tiny sound made its way across the room. Fox's ear perked up, keying in on it. It took a second for him to register what it was: the softest, most slightest whistle of wind.

Fox's eyes opened wide, unsure, suddenly, if he was actually awake or not. Maybe he was still dreaming.

But no, the pain from the icy cold was real enough. He was definitely awake. He forced himself to remain completely still, not even breathing.

There it was again. He was sure of it. Having listened to nothing but the buzzing of the lamp and the dripping of water for the past who knows how many days, he was definitely sure that this was a new sound.

He separated himself from Wolf's body, pushing himself up on his hands and knees. He moved slowly, quietly, as if any sudden movements would scare the sound away. Upon hearing it again, he let himself rise to his feet. He couldn't feel his hands or feet, and his body moaned at him with every movement, but none of that mattered now.

He walked towards the darkness, following the sound, straining his ears to hear it better. His eyes gradually adjusted themselves to the shadows as he moved along cautiously, his senses becoming keen as he shook off the last of his sleep.

The sound led him to the staircase. He let his eyes travel up to the door, searching it. It had to be coming from somewhere. Much louder this time, it clearly seemed to be coming from the crack between the door and the ceiling.

Wind. There'd never been wind coming from the door before. And more importantly, considering where they were, there _shouldn't_ have been any wind coming from the door.

Half-afraid, he brought his hands up to rest against the cold metal. What was he doing? It was locked.

But he found himself pushing on it anyway. It didn't move. He furrowed his eyebrows. Of course it didn't move.

But he continued pushing on it, locking his elbows, gripping the floor with his feet as well as he could. He pushed as hard as he possibly could, gritting his teeth.

He felt it move.

His eyes widened in surprise and he stopped, the door falling back into place with a horrendous creak.

The door had _moved_.

His heart was thudding, echoing in his head. He was no longer cold. He was no longer hungry. He looked back up at the door, mouth slightly agape.

Rolling up the sleeves of his jacket, he positioned himself with his shoulder against the door, setting his feet in place against the staircase to hold himself steady. He began pushing again.

It started moving a little easier this time. It creaked and groaned horribly, the sound reverberating through the room. He continued to push, not even breathing as he put all the strength he had into his shoulder and legs.

It was moving, oh God, it was moving. Light was coming in from above as a gap emerged between the ceiling and the door.

"Fox, what are you doing?!"

He almost lost it, surprised by the voice. He looked across the room and saw Wolf sitting up from his place on the floor.

"The door… the door! We're free, Wolf! It's moving!"

It was halfway up by now. He only needed to get it a little farther before it would swing backwards, presenting them with glorious freedom.

"Fox, no! You can't…!!" Wolf was staggering to his feet, swaying a bit. He began moving towards Fox, his hand outstretched.

But it was too late. With one final shove, the door fell open, light pouring in.

Wolf tried to grab hold of Fox's jacket, but he was already running up the stairs, emerging into the outside world.

And was surrounded by white.

He stood there a moment, at the top of the steps. His head turning sporadically as he took everything in.

Whiteness. Everything was white.

Wolf stumbled up the stairs behind him, his breathing labored, sounding horrifically raspy.

Something was flying through the air. It blew against Fox's face, getting in his eyes. Snow? Was it snow? He held out a hand, trying, with difficulty, to catch some in it.

It was too gray to be snow. Too brittle.

It was ash.

Confused, Fox began walking forward, stumbling a bit. The ground below him was littered with debris.

"Wolf… Wolf, what's going on?"

Wolf didn't answer. He was bent over, hands gripping his knees, supporting himself. He was having difficulty breathing.

Fox continued to gaze around himself, wide-eyed. It was hard to see much in the blowing ash. He stepped around the jutting metal and chunks of concrete as best he could. Every once in a while, he made out what looked like a splintered chair or shattered light in what wasn't completely covered in ash.

He cautiously reached out a hand, running it over a plane of glass, half-broken across a large metal beam that appeared to be twisted out of shape. As he pushed the ash away, he saw a face gazing up at him. It took him a moment to realize it was his own. He was looking at a mirror.

He brought his hands to his face, running them across his dirt-streaked fur. He looked horrible: eyes sunken in, face gaunt from lack of nutrition.

He felt someone touch his shoulder and twirled around in a flash, instinctively backing away. It was just Wolf.

"Wolf…" His eyes were darting back and forth now. "Wolf… where are we?"

Wolf cringed, looking down at the ground.

"Wolf… _where are we?!_" He was practically screaming this time.

He didn't wait for an answer, though. He took one or two steps backwards before fully turning around and running. The ash whipped against his face, blinding him, but he couldn't see much anyway.

He was stopped abruptly as he felt a sharp pain in his leg. What looked like the remains of somebody's desk lay in three pieces across his path, and without seeing them, he'd gone crashing right through. He was sent sprawling to the ground, pain rippling through him as a variety of rocks and stripped metal rose up to meet him.

He didn't move, just laid there amongst the debris. He could feel something sharp jutting into his upper thigh.

A few moments later, he felt himself being hauled to his feet. He felt a set of arms close around him, felt himself being pressed tightly against another's chest.

"Fox…"

Fox instantly pushed himself away, hands held up defensively. He could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest.

"You… you… what have you done?"

"Done? I haven't done anything, Fox."

"This is Corneria, isn't it? _ISN'T IT?!_ He was screaming, his voice strained and cracking.

Wolf didn't answer at first. He couldn't bring his eyes up to meet Fox's. "…yeah, it is."

Fox was utterly still for a moment, his eyes unfocused. And suddenly, he was on top of Wolf, screaming. He was grabbing the front of Wolf's shirt, shaking him, his teeth bared.

"_Where are they? Where is everyone?_"

Wolf sputtered, trying to push the other canine off of him. He could feel tears welling up in his eye. "They're… they're…" He got a grip on Fox's jacket, still attempting to push him off. "They're all dead, Fox!"

Fox was stopped instantly, his face emotionless. He was staring straight at Wolf, but he wasn't looking at him.

"…they're dead…?"

Wolf was coughing again, his body doubled over. Fox didn't seem to notice.

"… they're… dead…?"

Once his coughing subsided, Wolf slowly looked up towards Fox. "A…Andross attacked without warning. He annihilated the entire city… the entire planet."

Fox continued to stare straight ahead. Wolf wasn't even sure if he was listening.

"You were all here to attend Pepper's retirement ceremony this coming weekend. He… he knew he could knock you all out with one blow. Both Corneria… and Star Fox…"

"...Corneria… and Star Fox…"

Wolf grew silent, simply watching Fox. He took a timid step towards him, attempting to pull him into an embrace.

"Fox… I… I know how you feel…"

There was silence for a few moments, the ash in the air whipping around their bodies.

"…how the _fuck_ do you know how I feel?"

Fox shoved Wolf away sharply, tears now streaming down his face. "You have absolutely _no idea how I feel! How can you even say that? I've lost everything… EVERYTHING!!_"

By now, Wolf was crying too, his expression turning into a scowl. "You think everything revolves around _you_, don't you? That nobody can have it worse off than _you!_ I saw both my comrades murdered in front of my own eyes… _murdered! _Andross _murdered _them!" He raised his voice to match Fox's. "BANG! Just like that. They fell to the ground _dead!_"

Fox was stopped in his rampage, the tears seemingly frozen on his face. He stood quietly, just staring in front of him. "…Wolf…"

And as if the floodgates suddenly broken, he was on his knees, tears pouring from his eyes. His back heaved as he brought his hands to his face.

"Oh, Fox, I…" Wolf was crouching down now, too. He pulled Fox closer to him, wrapping his arms around his shaking frame. Fox clung onto Wolf's shirt, crying into the fabric, gripping it tightly in his hands.

They didn't speak for a few minutes, Fox simply crying, sobs overtaking his body.

"…w… what am I gonna do, Wolf…?" He slowly raised his head to face the older canine. "… what am I…why… why didn't you _tell_ me?"

Wolf looked away. "I… I couldn't tell you… I just couldn't. I didn't want you to have to experience this…"

"Wolf, we were going to _die_ down there!"

Wolf closed his eye. "Fox…" He was surprisingly calm. "We're going to die up here."

The realization hit Fox like a ton of bricks, stopping even his sobs.

Wolf felt his throat tighten, straining his voice. "There's no one left, Fox. Anyone who could have helped us is already dead. Corneria and Star Fox were Andross' only real threat towards his conquer of Lylat."

Fox felt a strange chill run up his spine. It was a feeling he hadn't ever felt before.

"There's no one coming for us."

Fox wanted to shout, to scream, to push Wolf away. He wanted to deny it, shut what Wolf was saying out of his brain.

But he couldn't. He knew it was true.

They were truly alone.

"Wolf…"

Wolf was rambling now. "I… I thought that if we died in that shelter, that… that you could at least die happy, Fox. You would never know… never know what happened… I didn't want to see you like this."

"Wolf…"

"I… I just wanted… you to be happy…"

Silence settled over them. Ash was blowing into their faces, but they didn't even notice. They simply continued to sit there, tears drying on their cheeks.

Fox was the first to speak up. "Wolf… let's go back to the shelter."

Wolf looked up at him, giving a small sniff. He nodded, bringing a hand up to wipe at his eye.

Fox stood up and offered his hand to the lupine, helping him to his feet. The two began walking slowly back towards the direction they'd come from, staggering a few times while crossing the never-ending mounds of debris. Soon, Fox could make out the shape of the door coming into view through the ash.

Wolf made his way over to it first, looking back to make sure Fox was ok. He gave him a small grin, albeit a sad one, a canine poking out from beneath his upper lip. Fox then watched him disappear into the ground.

Following suit, Fox stepped down onto the staircase. He stopped for a moment, turning to look back towards the barren wasteland that used to be his home. His eyebrows furrowed a bit, but the tears would no longer come. Finally, with one last look, he turned and descended once more into darkness.


End file.
